The Great Cleansing
"He" slowly straightened his body, a seemingly fragile posture that nonetheless contained an insurmountable majesty.
The golden pupils swept indifferently across the devastated battlefield and the three stupefied teammates.
No explanation, no words.
The residual leech swarm, though terrified and retreating due to the annihilation of their King and the lingering power of the 'Fire Thunder Biting,' still lingered within the surrounding thick mist, emitting rustling, threatening sounds.
They seemed hesitant, waiting for the next opportunity to swarm.
The golden eyes swept over these remaining remnants, viewing them with no ripple of emotion, as if they were merely dust that needed to be cleaned.
He slowly raised one hand, his five fingers slightly spread, and directed it toward the surrounding void. He uttered a clear, resonant decree, his voice like the ringing of a jade chime:
"Marsh, Thunder, Following."
Boom!
It was not an earth-shattering explosion of thunder, but a low, deep rumble originating from the depths of the earth, beneath the marsh itself!
The entire muddy area beneath the survivors' feet seemed to come alive, trembling and churning violently! The earth itself seemed to obey the decree, shedding its inert state.
An invisible force of attraction and restraint swelled up from every inch of mud and every drop of foul water!
The countless remaining Poison Leeches, lurking and ready to strike, were instantly seized as if grabbed by thousands of invisible mud hands!
They thrashed wildly but could not escape the powerful, environment-based control force.
Then came the secondary effect, subtle but terrifyingly pervasive. Immediately following the rumble, the mud began to crackle. The air filled with the sharp, clean scent of ozone mixed with a rapidly dissipating stench of corruption. Countless fine, blue electric snakes burst forth from the marsh. These electric snakes were not violently destructive, but carried an extremely potent paralyzing and purifying effect, flowing like mercury into every single leech!
Crackling! Sizzz—!
The repulsive, dense black tide was instantly transformed into a writhing, electrically charged net. Leeches began to writhe violently, emitting high-pitched, desperate squeals that were abruptly cut short.
In a gruesome, synchronized spectacle, the paralyzed leeches were violently ruptured from the inside out by the concentrated purification energy. Their bodies didn't just die; they visibly swelled, their chitinous shells cracking with loud pop-pop-pop sounds, before collapsing into sterile, inert sludge! The sheer volume of simultaneous burst bodies was overwhelming, painting the entire periphery of the marsh in a wet, final chaos.
Within their field of vision, every Poison Leech covered by the power of 'Marsh Thunder Following'—regardless of size—was convulsed, purified, and eliminated.
In just a breath, within a fifty-meter radius centered on the four of them, every residual leech was completely annihilated!
The entire space was instantly cleansed; even the uneasy rustling sounds vanished entirely.
Li Shulai watched his surroundings turn from a chaotic nightmare into an orderly, inert field. "He didn't attack the creatures; he controlled the environment itself," Li Shulai realized, his mind reeling. "He commanded the Marsh to reject the filth!" The sophistication of this Daoist art made his previous brute-force sword techniques feel like the clumsy flailing of a child.
Chen Ruipeng stared at the immense area cleared by a few simple words. His defensive power relied on the stability of the ground; seeing the ground itself turned into a weapon filled him with an awe that transcended fear. He felt insignificant, like a pebble before a mountain range.
The Wellspring and The Guide
However, Lin Yan's actions did not cease. He moved his finger, tracing abstruse lines in the air. His voice remained flat and calm:
"Water, Wind, Well."
Omm—
The clear, ethereal sound of flowing water and the gentle, airy sound of wind simultaneously arose, blending harmoniously. The sounds felt less like noise and more like the harmonious, perfect music of the cosmos.
In that instant, four hemispherical shields, each about three zhang in diameter, translucent, and flowing with azure water ripples and pale green wind patterns, materialized above the four individuals!
The shield wall was not static; the water ripples circulated gently, and the wind patterns swirled without end, forming a perfect, self-sustaining domain of internal and external energy circulation.
The moment the shield solidified, the four felt a refined, gentle life-force penetrate their bodies.
The experience was overwhelmingly therapeutic.
Li Shulai felt a warmth spread through his back. The agonizing sting of the leech bites faded almost instantly. His parched Mana Sea began to absorb the ambient energy within the protective sphere, filling his reservoirs with a clean, smooth current, clearing the chaotic residue left by his desperate final strike. The exhaustion was purged from his muscles, replaced by a subtle, humming energy, as if his internal circuits had been perfectly cleaned and optimized.
Chen Ruipeng felt the severe muscle tremors caused by his extreme exertion cease immediately. The gentle flow of wind energy within the barrier seemed to massage his strained tendons and ligaments, promoting rapid recovery. His heavy, aching limbs felt newly invigorated, and the mental fog of exhaustion lifted completely.
He Lingxuan was stunned. She watched as the fierce purplish-black taint on Lin Yan's severely injured arm visibly faded as the "Water, Wind, Well" energy permeated his body. For herself, the low-level Mana depletion and physical weakness vanished. The feeling was one of perfect balance, her meridians clear and unobstructed for the first time since the ordeal began. She realized this was a flawless, healing and restorative spell—a true Daoist sanctuary.
Inside the tranquil dome, Li Shulai turned to Chen Ruipeng, his voice still low with shock but now tinged with a deep, crushing self-reproach.
"Ruipeng... did you see that? The purity of the Qi... I poured everything into a burning strike. He... he spoke three words and erased the entire army."
Chen Ruipeng, leaning on his axe but now standing straight, shook his head slowly, his eyes wide with confusion. "Not Mana. It's... something else. Power of the world." He looked at the unconscious Lin Yan in He Lingxuan's lap, a profound sense of indebtedness etched onto his rugged face. "We thought he was weak. We laughed at his caution."
Li Shulai clenched his fists, the shame sharp and stinging. "He saved us. At the cost of... whatever that was. We owe him everything. We must never question him again, not after this." The pride that had defined the Swordsman was irrevocably broken, replaced by a fierce loyalty born of gratitude and guilt.
'Lin Yan' paid all of them no mind. He slowly raised one hand, and a wisp of crimson-gold flame silently danced on his fingertip. This flame was not searing; instead, it carried an aura of guidance and penetration.
"Fire, Mountain, Traveler."
He flicked his finger. The wisp of crimson-gold light was not an attack, but shot out like a spiritual guide, whooshing through the air! The flame did not travel in a straight line, but meandered forward in an esoteric trajectory. Wherever it passed, the dense fog was pushed aside as if by an invisible force, revealing a clear sightline.
Even more magically, the firelight marked, dispersed, and even temporarily suppressed the underlying dangerous Qi in every seemingly solid piece of mud or hidden swamp pool it traversed! The energy felt like a celestial compass, ignoring physical barriers to map and subdue the underlying spiritual landscape.
A clear, utterly safe path, approximately one zhang wide, burning with an unquenchable crimson-gold flame, was imprinted into the marsh. It extended from beneath their feet and stretched straight toward the location where the Cloud-Hidden Flower grew!
This path was not just a direction; it was an absolute safety channel that eliminated all potential dangers!
The Return to Mortality and the Vow
He Lingxuan looked from the glowing path to Lin Yan. Realizing the protective domain was stable and the path was safe, she gently placed the unconscious Lin Yan onto Chen Ruipeng's shoulder for support.
She stood up, gathering her own strength. Her analytical mind was still spinning from the illogical display of power, but her purpose was crystal clear.
"I'm going. The path is safe," she announced, her voice steadier now.
As she stepped onto the crimson-gold path, she looked back at Lin Yan's frail, unconscious form. Her inner resolve hardened, a fierce, protective vow forming in her mind:
"I have judged him as a weakling, judged his warnings as foolish panic, and focused only on my own inadequate pills. He gave everything—his life, his secret, his very soul—to save us. If this power costs him his mortality, then my logic, my skills, and my life must be dedicated to protecting the fragile piece of him that remains. I will find the source of his burden, and I will protect him from the consequences of this terrifying gift."
Having completed these decrees, the golden light in "his" eyes began to recede like a tide. The vast, ancient aura swiftly gathered and departed. A boundless sense of exhaustion, like a crashing tsunami, rushed in, replacing the fleeting divinity.
His body swayed and started to slump forward.
Chen Ruipeng, already holding Lin Yan, gently adjusted his grip, his awe mixing with protective instinct.
Looking down, Lin Yan in his arms had his eyes tightly closed, his face pale as paper, his breathing faint. The awe-inspiring power surge seemed to have drained his remaining life force, transforming him back into the frail novice they knew.
He Lingxuan, having retrieved the Cloud-Hidden Flower, rushed back.
Li Shulai approached, looking at the unconscious Lin Yan, then at the scorched earth ploughed by the 'Fire Thunder Biting.' He swallowed hard, his voice husky:
"He... what was he chanting? And those eyes..."
No one could answer.
The thick mist still hung over the marsh, leaving behind only the silence of their narrow escape, and the overwhelming waves of emotion—fear, shock, confusion, and a single, faint thread of hope—that crashed within the hearts of the three survivors.